Just before 2:30 p.m. on Monday, March 22, 2021, members of the staff of Neptune Mountaineering working in the shipping and receiving department heard a series of loud pops. They attributed the sounds to construction happening in the unit across the corridor that was being remodeled into a new dance studio. Minutes later, a manager came through to lock the shipping and receiving door and gathered everyone into the offices in the back of the store.
This was the beginning of a five-hour lockdown. Those loud pops were not from the construction site. They were gunshots from a Ruger AR-556 pistol modified to act like a rifle that was being fired in the parking lot Neptune shares with the King Soopers grocery store. Many of Neptune’s employees regularly go to this King Soopers for their lunch break, and employee Matt Crossley happened to change his mind and was at Abo’s Pizza when someone came running in to alert everyone of the active-shooter situation. Crossley immediately took cover with the other people and called one of Neptune’s managers on duty to warn his co-workers to go into lockdown. In the end, 10 people were killed and hundreds traumatized.
Unfortunately, this could happen anywhere in the United States, in front of any storefront. Schools already practice active-shooter drills, and retailers might start doing the same with their employees considering there have been at least five copycat store shootings in the weeks since this event took place.
By 4 p.m., the general manager sent an email to the entire staff confirming that all employees were accounted for while some of them were still on lockdown in the back of the store. At 7 p.m., he sent a compassionate email announcing the store management was expecting to open Neptune the next morning, but anyone scheduled to work who felt uncomfortable did not have to come in.
Tuesday morning, enough staff came through and the store opened an hour late. “Wilderness is a common place for healing and escape, and we wanted to be able to serve our community if they needed anything to support them to get away,” says Neptune Mountaineering co-owner Shelley Dunbar. With a cafe in the store, the email from the GM to the staff also said: “If nothing else, we can support our first responders with a hot cup of coffee.”
Not surprisingly, there wasn’t much traffic in Neptune Mountaineering the day after the shooting. By that afternoon, the GM sent another email out to the staff with traumatic-event-recovery information and local counseling available, which was gathered by the owners and an employee-benefits partner. And this was just the beginning of the coming together by and for the community where this tragedy occurred.
The outpouring of support for Neptune was immediate and lasted over a week as condolences poured in. The Arc’teryx sales rep, Josh Tedeschi, sponsored a catered lunch for the store staff; Sweet Ruckus, a neighboring boutique shop, brought in gifts; and Amy Long from Nothing Bundt Cakes, a nearby bakery, delivered cupcakes for Neptune’s staff. There were also a number of handwritten cards from other members of the outdoor industry expressing their sorrow to the staff. Some of them from out of town but written by people who had called South Boulder home and felt a connection to those living and working there now. The team at Neptune is so grateful for the support and hopes no one ever has to deal with this again.
A month later, the shooting doesn’t get discussed much any more, but it still weighs heavy on some employees’ minds.
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